Fans, drivers and camera crews lit up the Missouri State Fair Speedway Friday in Sedalia.
The Lucas Oil ASCS Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek – sponsored and broadcast by MAVTV – made a pit stop at the Missouri State Fair Speedway to host a National Tour with Warrior Region sprint car race and an A Modifieds event.
While those with ASCS National are used to the routine of racing by night and traveling by day, the Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek accelerates that lifestyle. The event scheduled six races in seven days, starting June 11 at the Route 66 Motor Speedway in Amarillo, Texas, suffering just one rain out so far.
Sam Hafertepe Jr., who won the race in Amarillo and has finished no worse than third since, said he brought one more member in his pit crew for the busy week.
“Guys work their butts off for this deal,” Hafertepe said. “Every little bit helps. To run that many days in the row – bar having any problems – that’s the main thing. If you have a lot of problems night to night, it makes it a really, really long week.”
Sunset Hills’ Brad Loyet took first at Lawton June 15 for his first feature win of the tour, and had three top-five finishes going into Friday.
He said the Speedweek has been a challenging grind.
“We’ve been hitting it pretty hard,” Loyet said. “It’s been race all night long, in 100 degree heat, sweating all day long … For the last three nights we haven’t gone to bed until five in the morning, and that’s pretty tough to do.
“That’s just the lifestyle. That’s what we do.”
Having already traveled more than 1,000 miles since Friday, the Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek concludes at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri.
